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Caution: Idiot Warning Ahead

It’s like deja vu. All over again. Honestly: haven’t we been down this road before?

If you are a man who doesn't smoke, has a healthy diet, does plenty of exercise, and consumes alcohol in moderation, your chances of having myocardial infarction (heart attack) are lower than a man with a similar lifestyle who never drinks, say researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, USA.

-- 106 men had heart attacks-- 1,282 men consumed about two drinks per day, of whom 8 had heart attacks-- 714 men consumed over two drinks per day, of whom 9 had heart attacks-- 1,889 men never drank, of whom 28 had heart attacks

Can I give you my assessment? (I know, I know: try and stop me.) The dudes that had the least number of heart attacks were concerned about living healthily, but not so concerned they stressed about it. They weren’t overindulging, they were just doing their lives in a sensible, healthful way. They were happy.

There’s no newsflash here. No searing headline. Why does everyone always have to make everything so complicated? So mysterious?

No news piece of this nature would be complete without the proper disclaimer. And warning. Here’s the one that goes with this item:

Dr. Kenneth J. Mukamal stressed that he would not advise people who never drink to start doing so just because of this study. The study just looked at heart health and did not take into account other possible risks, such as cancer.

Translation: in case you’re an idiot and think that all of this means you should start hitting the sauce even if you’ve always been sauce-free... just don’t. The article even implies that there could be unforeseen repercussions. Repercussions so deep, they don’t even know what they are, so they stuff the Big C in there for good measure. Just in case you missed the point.

Is it any wonder so many thinking people are completely tuning out of mainstream media?

Linda L. Richards is the editor and co-founder of January Magazine and a regular contributor to The Rap Sheet. She is the author of several book-length works of both fiction and non-fiction. A faculty member of the Simon Fraser University Summer Publishing Program, she maintains a busy lecture and festival schedule and enjoys working with new writers.
When she isn’t writing books, writing about books, teaching or reading, Richards enjoys hiking the wild beaches near her home, quite often thinking about her current work in progress.